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Preschool children with externalizing behaviors: experience of fathers and mothers
1Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles 90024, USA.
Insights
Families with preschool children exhibiting externalizing behaviors face increased stress and parenting challenges. Fathers
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Family Studies
- Child Psychiatry
Background:
- Childhood behavior disorders are linked to family stress and maladjustment.
- Limited research exists on the adjustment of families with preschool children at risk for behavior disorders.
- Fathers' perceptions and reactions to child problem behaviors are understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the adjustment of families with preschool children at risk for behavior disorders.
- To investigate fathers' perceptions and reactions to child behavior problems.
- To understand the differential impact of child externalizing behaviors on mothers and fathers.
Main Methods:
- Study involved mothers and fathers of 52 preschool-aged children.
- Children were categorized into control, moderate externalizing, and high externalizing groups.
- Parental perceptions, family impact, parenting practices, and stress levels were assessed.
Main Results:
- Higher child externalizing behavior correlated with negative family impact, reduced parenting efficacy, and authoritarian practices.
- Mothers reported increased stress and need for help with moderate to high externalizing behaviors.
- Fathers reported elevated stress only with high externalizing behaviors; perceptions of child problems did not differ between parents.
Conclusions:
- Preschool children's externalizing behaviors significantly impact family functioning and parenting.
- Mothers experience stress earlier than fathers with increasing child externalizing behaviors.
- Findings support the need for early family interventions tailored to parental roles and child behavior severity.
Abstract:
Childhood behavior disorders are related to family stress and maladjustment. Little is known, however, about the adjustment of families with preschool-aged children at risk for subsequent behavior disorders. Moreover, fathers' perceptions of child problem behavior and their reactions to it generally have been neglected. Subjects were mothers and fathers of 52 preschool-aged children assigned to one of three groups: control, moderate externalizing, and high externalizing. Higher child externalizing behavior was associated with greater negative family impact, lowered parenting sense of efficacy, and child-rearing practices that were more authoritarian and less authoritative. Mothers and fathers did not differ in actual perceived level of child behavior problems, although both believed that mothers saw more problems. Child Group x Parent interactions indicated that mothers experienced increased stress and a need for help with moderate as well as high child externalizing behaviors, whereas fathers were not elevated on these measures unless the child's externalizing behaviors were high. Implications of these findings for early family intervention are considered.